National Almond Day: Four Things Almonds Can Do for You

Today is National Almond Day! I just had to blog about almonds because I'm a little nutty for this nut! Almonds are the perfect snack because they are portable, don't have to be prepared or refrigerated, and they are easy to portion out. But if you need more reasons to grab a handful of almonds for your next snack, here...

…are a few more wonderful things they can do for you!

Almonds can help you eat less and weigh less. Studies have shown that people who snack on almonds every day while following a diet and exercise program lose more weight than people who just diet and exercise. Also, almonds may be particularly helpful for women. One study found that after women ate almonds they had higher levels of satiety hormones than men did, meaning they could stay fuller longer after snacking on almonds, which can lead to eating fewer calories overall.

Almonds can help lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol. One study showed that eating a combination of heart-healthy foods, including almonds, can help reduce LDL cholesterol as much as a first-line statin drug. In fact, the American Heart Association recently certified almonds as a heart-healthy food qualified to display the Heart-Check mark logo on almond packages.

Almonds can help you stay young. One ounce of almonds (about 23) provides 35% of the daily value for Vitamin E, an antioxidant shown to play an important role in anti-aging and overall health as well as other antioxidants, which may prevent cancer and heart disease.

Almonds can help you have a happy marriage (or at least legend says). In his book, “101 Foods That Could Save Your Life!,” Dave Grotto, RD, LDN, reports that the traditional wedding favor of five candied almonds originated in Italy in the 1350s. Each almond represented one of the five attributes to a happy marriage: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity.

So have I convinced you to add almonds to your daily snacking? If so, you may want to check out the new Almond Snack Generator, a handy tool for creating craveworthy almond snack combinations created by the Almond Board of California. Plus, one lucky winner per month through July 31, 2012 will receive a year supply of almonds. Visit the Almond Snack Generator page to enter!